‘Serve those who serve’: Veterans, workers protest DOGE cuts at Boise VA Medical Center
About 60 people gathered outside the Boise Veterans Affairs Medical Center on Friday to protest the mass firing of probationary workers and a move from the Trump administration to no longer recognize the union that represents VA employees.
The small but vocal group included union members and veterans holding signs saying “DOGE hurts veteran care” and asking drivers passing by to honk if they supported veterans and the VA.
Few cars passed without satisfying the call. Some people walking by picked up signs and joined in.
Two employees whose jobs were not cut told the Idaho Statesman in late February that 14 of their colleagues in Boise were laid off immediately via an external email from the government’s Office of Personnel Management as Elon Musk moved to slash the federal workforce at the behest of President Donald Trump. A regional director for Veterans Affairs confirmed that the medical center had “dismissed a small number of probationary staff.”
The workers who were dismissed were considered probationary, meaning they either began working for Veterans Affairs in the last couple of years or had recently received a promotion.
Chandler Bursey, president of the American Federation of Government Employees Local 1273, the union that represents more than 1,000 federal employees at the medical center, told the Statesman Friday that three of the 14 employees who were fired have since been hired back. The rest are on administrative leave.
“There’s a cloud of unknowing just hanging over every employee,” Bursey said. “There’s a fear of what the next thing is that’s going to come down. Last night, they killed our collective bargaining agreement. We’re out here to argue that we should have that back.”
Bursey said he appreciated workers from the Transportation Security Administration rallying in “solidarity” with the VA employees. The TSA workers are also represented by the American Federation of Government Employees, and the Trump administration canceled their collective bargaining agreement on March 7, the Associated Press reported.
An employee at the medical center, Rachel, who requested to be identified by only her first name for fear of retaliation, juggled three signs and a purple cowbell at the rally, handing out extras to people who walked by.
She told the Statesman that working at the VA is “my way of serving my country.”
Veterans Affairs provides benefits and services to veterans and their families, including health care. Many of the department’s employees are veterans themselves.
Rep. Todd Achilles, a Democrat from Boise, also attended the rally.
“The cuts that they’re talking about doing would just devastate care here, and the rest of the health care system in Idaho isn’t ready,” Achilles said. “We just don’t have the resources.”
Emily Thurlow, a recreational therapy provider at the VA, told the Statesman that she was fired a month before the end of her probationary period. Four weeks later, she was rehired. She said she wanted people to know that “the VA is strong.”
The union plans to demonstrate outside the medical center again from noon to 3 p.m. Saturday.
Nationwide, about 2,500 jobs were slashed at the department in February. The first round of layoffs announced Feb. 13 affected 1,000 employees. On Feb. 24, the department said it was dismissing more than 1,400 additional employees in what it deemed non-mission-critical positions. And on March 4, Veterans Affairs unveiled a reorganization plan that involves axing 80,000 more jobs, which would equate to about 300 positions in Boise, according to Bursey.
An internal memo obtained by The Associated Press instructed officials to work with the White House’s Department of Government Efficiency, or DOGE, to “move out aggressively.” Secretary Doug Collins said the layoffs would not lead to cuts to health care or veterans benefits.
But many VA employees aren’t convinced.
Trump signed an executive order Thursday limiting numerous agency employees, including those at Veterans Affairs, from unionizing. He instructed the government to stop engaging in any collective bargaining, NPR reported.
“We believe that their goal is to privatize the VA,” Bursey said. “The best way to do that is to get rid of all your hurdles, which would be collective bargaining, the unions. If they succeed, veterans will get sub-par medical care. I guarantee it.”
This story was originally published March 28, 2025 at 6:41 PM.
